Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland should tell Man City how to approach final month of transfer window

Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez have gone. Kyle Walker could still leave, as could Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Aymeric Laporte.

Even if (when) Josko Gvardiol arrives, Manchester City have something of a lopsided squad as the season curtain-raiser approaches this weekend. They remain stacked with centre-backs and central midfielders, but are short on wide players in defence and attack. Pep Guardiola appears content with a more versatile group of central players, but he has still lost a unique talent in Mahrez, with Walker 'irreplaceable' according to the manager.

City are tracking Crystal Palace's Michael Olise, while reports have also linked Jeremy Doku to replace Mahrez. If Walker goes, they would be left with their existing centre-back options (plus Rico Lewis) to patrol the right-back area, assuming Cancelo departs.

There's every chance that City could start their treble defence with a weaker squad than the one that made history only two months ago. They have been here before, however, and history suggests they would be weaker still for rushing any transfer decisions.

With deadline day less than a month away on September 1, City are running out of time to offload wantaway players and find adequate replacements. That's not to say they wouldn't make a late move in the transfer market, with Manu Akanji's find last summer for just £14m proving inspired and evidence of Txiki Begiristain's transfer department operating at maximum efficiency at short notice.

Take Mahrez for example, with Bernardo the front-runner to take his right-wing place - if he doesn't leave too. Youngsters Cole Palmer and Oscar Bobb can play on the right, as could Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez. In pre-season, City played narrow at times, allowing